Todd Akin vows to stay in race despite GOP 'overreaction'– the day in US politics

• Akin tells Huckabee, Hannity he will not drop out
• The Missouri Senate candidate issues apology video
• GOP abortion plank freshly drafted for the Tampa convention does not make an exception for rape

Todd Akin talks with reporters while attending the Governor's Ham Breakfast at the Missouri State Fair on August 16. Photograph: Orlin Wagner/AP

Barack Obama's Failure at 'Donor Maintenance'

The president doesn't give big donors enough time; his staff fails at the simplest donor maintenance such as routine thank-yous and setting up photo ops; he has his own rejection of Super PACs to live down; and some Democratic donors object to flooding politics with money, Mayer reports.

Did we mention he's stand-offish?:

“There’s been no thanks for anyone!” the major Democratic donor says. He adds that in 2008 he gave “multiple millions” to groups working to elect Obama. But, he notes, although he has attended various White House functions, and has met Obama on several occasions, “I don’t think they have a clue who I am. I don’t think they even know how much I gave.” He says that he has been introduced twice to Jarrett, “and neither time did she remember who I am.” Instead, he says, “she seemed to think she was blessing me by breathing in the same space.” Despite repeated pitches, he has not yet given money to Priorities USA.

9.12pm BST

Romney to Akin: Stand Down

Behold, the fearsome might of the presidential nominee (presumptive): Mitt Romney himself now has personally called on Todd Akin to step down as challenger in the Missouri Senate race so a different Republican – any other Republican would work, really – can step up and send Claire McCaskill packing.

"As I said yesterday, Todd Akin's comments were offensive and wrong and he should very seriously consider what course would be in the best interest of our country," Romney said in a statement. "Today, his fellow Missourians urged him to step aside, and I think he should accept their counsel and exit the Senate race."

8.41pm BST

How digested is your lunch?

Sean Sullivan of the Washington Post has compiled a video history of campaign apology ads, reaching back to Jerry Springer, running for governor of Ohio in 1982: "Some nine years ago, I spent time with a woman I shouldn't have. And I paid her with a check."

GOP Adds Voter Suppression to Official Party Platform

In shaping the party's 2012 platform, a Republican committee already has committed to strident anti-abortion language and rejected a push by some delegates to scuttle the whole two-state solution thing.

The role of voter ID and proof-of-citizenship laws in suppressing the Democratic vote has been well documented by the ACLU among others. The point of these laws is not to stop voter fraud, which never happens this way, but to steal elections by denying the constitutionally guaranteed right to vote to American citizens.

It is shocking, shocking that a party that pays so much lip service to the sacredness of the Constitution would make support for voter ID laws part of its official platform.

The Republican National Committee and Ron Paul supporters are on the verge of an agreement that would ensure a certain profile for Paul's pet causes at the convention in exchange for the clean cooperation of his delegates, CNN reports.

The particulars of the agreement have yet to be ironed out. It sounds like the RNC will seat Paul delegates from Louisiana and Massachusetts and that those delegates in turn will agree to go along with the majority without causing a ruckus. The pot was sweetened for Paul's supporters by the inclusion in the official GOP platform of Paul-ish planks including tough language against the Federal Reserve.

Biden to Crash Tampa During GOP Convention

As part of a multi-day swing through Florida next week, Vice President Joe Biden will be in Tampa during the GOP convention, Fox News' Ed Henry reports.

BIden is expected to make a speech rebutting the Republican message machine and stealing what thunder he can. Basically the Democrats are telling Biden to create a diversion, which seems like it might could work a little too well.

Akin Says GOP Leaders Guilty of 'Overreaction'

"It does seem, I just misspoke...I hadn't done anything that was morally or ethically wrong... we do a lot of talking, but to get one word in the wrong place... it does seem like an overreaction."

Now Akin is talking about his opponent, Claire McCaskill. They're opposites, he says.

"She's for abortion of course across the whole 9 months. I'm against it."

What was the deciding moment? When did you decide to stay in?

"Our campaign in the past was defined by the fact that we stood on principle. ... I believe that what we're doing here is standing on a principle, that this is what America is. I believe this is the right thing for me to do, and I will be able to add to the message."

"A deep respect for life, that's underlying everything, our creator gave us life... I feel that that part of the message has to be spoken."

6.34pm BST

Akin Call for Justice, Says He 'Misspoke One Word'

Akin is not backing down. He's about to tell Huckabee what he makes of the fact that his opponent desperately wants him to stay in the race while his party wants him out.

While we wait for Akin to come back, Here's Karl Rove saying he can never win in Missouri but hey, it's his choice (via Christopher Heinze):

Akin: 'It's not something that's in the brain'

How does Akin plan on financing his campaign without party support?"

"What we're seeing right now is a tremendous outpouring of support. [From small donors, "little people."] They're not the regular party people, and they're not the guys who can write million-dollar checks."

Akin says a huge grassroots movement is behind him.

"I believe we can win this. I noticed there's a poll that came out that had me still ahead of Claire McCaskill...

"We have a message that people understand. It's not something that's in the brain, it's in the heart."

Now Akin is talking about the justice he deserves:

"Is there a matter of some justice here. That I misspoke one word in one sentence, in one day, and all of a sudden everybody says, well, 'Akin can't win.'"

"And you tell them you're sorry, you look them in the eye... [but it does no good]."

Huckabee plays the McCaskill sound bite in support of Akin. "No republican has been so gracious," Huckabee helpfully points out.

Akin responds:

"I Think Claire and I, we've passed back and forth at airports over the years, and Claire understands that we're just total opposites..."

And they're interrupted by a commercial break.

6.26pm BST

Huckabee says he's shocked by the calls of GOP leaders for Akin to get out of the race.

Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan used an old quote to take a new swipe at President Obama at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania today, professing himself to be a firearms- and religion-clinger.

"Remember this other time when he said people want to cling to their guns and religion?" Ryan said at a steel company in Carnegie. "Hey, I'm a Catholic deer hunter, I'm happy to be clinging to my guns and religion."

Paul Ryan speaks at a campaign event in Carnegie, Pennsylvania, in a screen grab from CNN. Photograph: CNN

In an infamous April 2008 fundraiser in the den of sin that is San Francisco, California, then-candidate Barack Obama said of small-town Pennsylvanians he had met, "it's not surprising, then, they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."

Ryan also said the president is out to bankrupt Medicare and that the administration's investment in the failed Solyndra alternative-energy company showed why it's a bad idea to let government pick economic winners and losers.

5.10pm BST

Push to Eliminate GOP Support for 2-State Solution Falls Short

The GOP platform committee in Tampa has been busily shaping the 2012 planks upon which the party will build the country's future.

One new idea this year: Abandon support for a two-state solution in the Middle East.

Three separate amendments were proposed before the Tampa committee to remove language endorsing a two-state solution.

"One delegate suggested the GOP’s platform too closely resembles the position of Democrats and President Obama on the issue," the Washington Post reported.

At this point he was doing weights along with the pushups and sit-ups. Triceps, shoulders, chest. There was some deep breathing but no embarrassing grunting. He took regular water breaks from a cup on the workout bench.

How Akin Could Lose It for Romney

Every vote counts in Missouri, literally. The state offers 11 electoral votes in the presidential election. In 2008 John McCain won the state by just one tenth of one percent (0.1%) – 1,445,812 votes to 1,442,180 for Barack Obama.

This is why L'Affaire Akin is so troubling to Mitt Romney. Akin's presence would repel Republicans, some of whom would not bother to turn out and vote.

There's much talk this morning of a new Public Policy Polling poll showing Akin still ahead of McCaskill 44-43 in the Senate race. Our numbers cuirassier Harry Enten advises that the PPP poll is a flash poll that does not necessarily reflect the recently changed realities of the race. He also points to internals showing that Akin's favorability rating has tanked: Only 24% of voters have a favorable opinion of him to 58% with a negative one.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee is disseminating a list of Republican leaders that want Todd Akin to peace out of the Missouri Senate race. Here is whom Akin and his close ally Claire McCaskill are up against:

Radio/TV Host Sean Hannityurged Akin yesterday to reconsider running and reminded him that “elections are bigger than one person”

Radio Host Mark Levin similarly urged Akin to step aside saying this race is far too important to risk losing to the Democrats.

Columnist/Radio Host Dennis Prager penned a column for Townhall.com calling on his fellow pro-life leaders to join him in disavowing Akin’s remarks.

Columnist Charles Krauthammer on Fox News last night called Akin “toxic” and said “he’s got to go”

Radio Host Hugh Hewitt tweeted – “If Akin drops out and GOP wins Senate, he has career. If he stays in and GOP doesn’t win Senate, infamy and injury to prolife cause”

Author Ann Coulterpenned a column in Human Events calling on Akin to do the right thing and step aside for the good of the pro-life movement

National Review editorial boardcalled on Akin to step aside, writing in part, “Akin is a stalwart conservative and an honorable man, we regret to say that he inspires no such confidence”

Wall Street Journal editorial board also called on Akin to step aside, writing in part, “Having uttered one of the more offensive and ill-informed comments in recent years, Mr. Akin could cost his party a seat it is favored to win this November and thus possible control of the Senate.”

The Tea Party Expresscalled on Akin to step aside saying “It is critical that we defeat Senator Claire McCaskill in November, but it will be too difficult to achieve that with Todd Akin as the conservative alternative.”

Paul Ryan Pick Illustrates GOP Support for Todd Akin View on Abortion

What kind of political party putsmillions behind a candidate who wants to make abortion illegal even in cases of rape based on his understanding "from doctors" that "the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down"?

Does the embarrassing revelation of Akin's profound ignorance – coupled with his blithe claim of the moral right to make rules the rest of us have to live by – does the shocking combination of ignorance and an assumption of authority embodied by Todd Akin in any way represent an area of imperfection in the Republican party?

[Ryan] has a perfect 100 rating from the National Right to Life Committee. And he’s lived up to that rating by, among other things, co-sponsoring a bill that declared “personhood” begins at fertilization—a legal standard that, if ever applied, could outlaw not just abortion but also in vitro fertilization, intrauterine devices, and some oral contraceptives. Akin was one of the other co-sponsors.

Ryan also co-sponsored (with Akin, again) a bill that would have modified the existing ban on federal funding of abortion. Presently, the law allows federal funds to support abortions in case of rape and incest. The bill would have narrowed the exceptions to cases of “forcible rape” and, for incest, cases involving minors. ... The bill was so controversial that House Republicans withdrew that language.

Romney would like us to ignore this part of Ryan’s record, just as he’d like us to ignore Ryan’s advocacy of immediate cuts to Medicare and his crusade to privatize Social Security. Under different circumstances, Romney might have a point.

Updated at 3.09pm BST

2.22pm BST

Akin's Most Vocal Defender: Sen. Claire McCaskill

In the whole vast expanse of this horizonless planet, there is at least one (1) politician willing to stand up and defend Todd Akin, and she is his opponent in the Missouri Senate race, Claire McCaskill.

McCaskill wants the public to know that while she does disagree with Akin here and there (has anyone asked this man what he thinks of Darwin?), she does not condone the mob that has attacked him in his moment of vulnerability, and that should he so desire, then by God Todd Akin should have every right to see this Senate race through to its fair finish.

"What's startling to me," McCaskill said Monday, "is that these [Republican] party bigwigs are coming down on him and saying that he needs to kick sand in the face of the Republican primary voters."

When Todd Akin and his patriotically ignorant ilk are prevented from running for the Senate, the terrorists truly have won?

Updated at 2.26pm BST

2.09pm BST

Paul Ryan: When I think about turning Medicare over to those faithful patriots who run America's insurance companies (what could go wrong?), it's not just a reckless bet I'm making with the health and well-being of any anonymous granny – I intend to do this to my own personal mother.

Paul Ryan (@PaulRyanVP)

When I think about Medicare, it is not just a program with numbers and words. It’s personal security that has been there for my family.

Good morning and welcome to our Tuesday live blog politics coverage. Sex and sexuality scholar -slash- Missouri Senate candidate Todd Akin has created an apology video clarifying his understanding of the female anatomy. Joking. Todd Akin has created a video apologizing for believing over the weekend that rape victims cannot get pregnant.

•Akin's apology video is widely being taken to mean that he is staying in the Missouri Senate race, despite the Republican party's big dogs very publicly ordering him to get the Hades offstage, despite presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney warning him to carefully think things through and despite Republican veep pick Paul Ryan personally calling the guy on the telephone to tell him to get lost. It's a profile in leadership.

Chris Licht (@ChrisLicht)

@jancbs: Paul Ryan personally called Akin to tell him to drop out. Also, watch @cbsthismorning to see Akin's ad asking for forgiveness.

•The Republican party plank opposing abortion as freshly drafted for the Tampa convention does not make an exception for rape. The man in charge of the committee drafting the platform is Virginia governor Bob McDonnell, who signed a law requiring women to have transvaginal ultrasounds before abortions, as National Journal reporter Beth Reinhard notes.